HomeMy WebLinkAbout15. 17-58
REVISED
JANUARY 24, 2017 FEBRUARY 14, 2017 17-42 17-58 ORDINANCE
FIRST READING SECOND READING
(CARRIED____5-0___ LOST_______ LAID OVER_______ WITHDRAWN_______)
PURPOSE: AMEND RESIDENTIAL RENTAL CONTACT REGISTRATION
REQUIRED ORDINANCE TO CLARIFY REGISTRATION
REQUIREMENTS, TO DELETE REMEDY OF WITHHOLDING
OCCUPANCY; TO AMEND THE RESIDENTIAL INSPECTION
ORDINANCE TO DELETE THE REQUIREMENT FOR 21 DAYS
NOTICE PRIOR TO SCHEDULED INSPECTIONS; AND TO
CLARIFY WHEN INSPECTIONS WILL BE DONE WITH CONSENT
OR UPON OBTAINING A WARRANT
INITIATED BY: LEGAL DEPARTMENT
A GENERAL ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF OSHKOSH AMENDING SECTION 16-48
OF THE OSHKOSH MUNICIPAL CODE PERTAINING TO THE REQUIREMENTS FOR
THE RESIDENTIAL RENTAL CONTACT REGISTRATION ORDINANCE, TO DELETE
THE REMEDY OF WITHHOLDING OCCUPANCY; DELETING SECTION 16-49(B)
REQUIRING A 21 DAY NOTICE PRIOR TO SCHEDULED INSPECTIONS AND TO
CLARIFY WHEN INSPECTIONS WILL BE DONE WITH CONSENT OR UPON
OBTAINING A WARRANT
The Common Council of the City of Oshkosh do ordain as follows:
SECTION 1. That Section 16-48 of the Oshkosh Municipal Code pertaining to the
requirement for residential rental contact registration is hereby repealed and recreated to
read as follows:
SECTION 16-48 RESIDENTIAL RENTAL CONTACT
REGISTRATION REQUIRED.
(A) The owner of a residential rental dwelling unit located in the City
shall record the residential rental contact registration with the
JANUARY 24, 2017 FEBRUARY 14, 2017 17-42 17-58 ORDINANCE
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Department on application forms provided by the Department by
January 1, 2017 for rental units existing on the effective date of this
ordinance or within 30 days of full or partial occupancy of new
construction or creation of residential rental units.
(B) The owner shall provide information on the form which will enable
the Department to contact the owner, or at the option of the owner,
an agent of the owner, including the street address of the
residential rental dwelling unit to be registered and the owner’s or
agent’s legal name and telephone number. The owner may
voluntary provide an email address, for the owner or the agent of
the owner.
(C) The owner of a Residential Rental Dwelling Unit shall update the
Residential Rental Contact Registration on file with the Department
within 30 days of any changes in the information required by (B)
above to ensure that it includes the correct and current contact
information at all times.
(D) Within 30 days of the Sale, Transfer or Conveyance of the
Residential Rental Dwelling Unit the new Owner shall submit to
the City the completed Residential Contact Registration as
provided in (B) above.
(E) The residential rental contact registration does not act as a
statement or admission regarding the rental unit condition or
compliance of the rental unit with any other code or ordinance.
(F) There shall be no fee for the residential rental contact registration.
SECTION 2. That Section 16-49(B) of the Oshkosh Municipal Code pertaining to
the requirement for 21 days prior written notice for residential rental inspections is
hereby repealed.
JANUARY 24, 2017 FEBRUARY 14, 2017 17-42 17-58 ORDINANCE
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SECTION 3. That Section 16-49(C) of the Oshkosh Municipal Code pertaining to consent
for residential rental inspections and warrant requirements is hereby repealed and
recreated to read as follows:
(C) Inspections shall only be conducted:
(1) in an occupied dwelling unit with consent from an adult tenant present at
the time of the inspection;
(2) in an unoccupied dwelling unit with consent from the owner or owner’s
agent who is present at the time of the inspection; or
(3) upon obtaining a special inspection warrant pursuant to Wis. Stat. 66.0119.
SECTION 4. The several sections of Chapter 16, Division 6, of the Oshkosh
Municipal Code entitled “Residential Rental Contact Registration and Inspection
Program” are declared to be severable. If any section or portion thereof shall be declared
by a decision of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, unlawful or unenforceable, such
decision shall apply only to the specific section or portion thereof directly specified in the
decision, and shall not affect the validity of any other provisions, sections or portions
thereof of the ordinance. The remainder of the ordinance shall remain in full force and
effect. Any other ordinances whose terms are in conflict with the provisions of this
ordinance are hereby repealed as to those terms that are in conflict.
SECTION 5. This ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its
passage and publication.
SECTION 6. Publication Notice. Please take notice that the City of Oshkosh
enacted ordinance #17-58 AMEND RESIDENTIAL RENTAL CONTACT REGISTRATION
REQUIRED ORDINANCE TO CLARIFY REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS, TO
DELETE REMEDY OF WITHHOLDING OCCUPANCY; TO AMEND THE
RESIDENTIAL INSPECTION ORDINANCE TO DELETE THE REQUIREMENT FOR 21
DAYS NOTICE PRIOR TO SCHEDULED INSPECTIONS; AND TO CLARIFY WHEN
INSPECTIONS WILL BE DONE WITH CONSENT OR UPON OBTAINING A
WARRANT (A GENERAL ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF OSHKOSH AMENDING
SECTION 16-48 OF THE OSHKOSH MUNICIPAL CODE PERTAINING TO THE
JANUARY 24, 2017 FEBRUARY 14, 2017 17-42 17-58 ORDINANCE
FIRST READING SECOND READING CONT’D
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE RESIDENTIAL RENTAL CONTACT REGISTRATION
ORDINANCE, TO DELETE THE REMEDY OF WITHHOLDING OCCUPANCY;
DELETING SECTION 16-49(B) REQUIRING A 21 DAY NOTICE PRIOR TO
SCHEDULED INSPECTIONS AND TO CLARIFY WHEN INSPECTIONS WILL BE
DONE WITH CONSENT OR UPON OBTAINING A WARRANT) on February 14, 2017.
The ordinance clarifies language in the ordinance; eliminates the requirement to
annually register residential rental dwelling units; requires registration as needed to
maintain current information; deletes the remedy of withholding occupancy; deletes the
requirement for a 21 day prior written notice for inspections that are scheduled with the
tenant or property owner or limited to external inspections of the property and clarifies
that inspections will only be conducted in occupied units with consent and presence of
an adult tenant, in unoccupied units with consent and presence of the owner or owner’s
agent or upon the issuance of a special inspection warrant as provided by statute.
The full text of the ordinance may be obtained at the Office of the City Clerk, 215
Church Avenue and through the City’s website at www.ci.oshkosh.wi.us. Clerk’s
phone: 920-236-5011.
TO: Mayor and Members of the Common Council
FROM: Lynn A. Lorenson, City Attorney
DATE: February 3, 2017
RE: Ordinance to Amend Residential Contact Registration Required Ordinance to
Clarify Registration Requirements, to Delete Remedy of Withholding Occupancy;
to Delete the Requirement to Mail Notices for Scheduled Appointments and to
clarify when inspections will be done with consent or upon obtaining a warrant
BACKGROUND
The City adopted a Residential Rental Registration and Inspection ordinance on September 15,
2016.
The January 24, 2017 meeting of the Common Council included the first reading of an ordinance
with recommended changes to the ordinance to clarify the registration requirements and to
delete the remedy of withholding occupancy permits for failure to timely register. After further
review, it was determined that an additional section of the ordinance should be revised to reflect
prior changes that had been made to the program pertaining to the scheduling of inspections.
On Wednesday, February 8, 2017 a hearing was held on the issuance of a preliminary injunction
on the rental inspection. During that hearing the Judge raised concerns that the ordinance may
be read that inspections of occupied residential units could be done without the consent of the
tenant. While that was not the intention of the ordinance, upon reviewing the language in light
of the Judge's concerns there was language in the ordinance that might be interpreted in that
way. In order to address those concerns and more clearly state when inspections will be done
with consent or upon obtaining a special inspection warrant, section 16-49(C) of the ordinance
was also revised.
The attached revised ordinance incorporates these additional revisions.
ANALYSIS
When the rental inspection program was initially proposed it was anticipated that city staff
would schedule an inspection of each rental unit and notify both the property owner and the
City Hall, 215 Church Avenue P.O. Box 1130 Oshkosh, WI 54903-1130 920.236.5000 http://www.ci.oshkosh.wi.us
tenant of the date and time that the inspection had been scheduled. To that end a provision was
included in the original drafts of the ordinance providing for a 21 -day written notice of the date
and time of inspection to be provided by first class mail to both the landlord and tenant.
As discussions continued, it was determined that staff would not choose the date and time for
inspection, but rather would notify owners and tenants that their properties were included
within the inspection area for the particular year and would request that an inspection be
scheduled by the tenant or owner for vacant units at a time convenient for them. If no inspection
were scheduled, then the staff would perform an external inspection of the property at staff's
convenience from the public street and sidewalk which would not require special notice since
those areas are open to public view. Because the inspections would now be scheduled by the
person(s) in control of the particular property or would only include an external inspection from
public areas, the 21 day prior notice was no longer necessary or reasonable. It would be
unreasonable to make a tenant who requests an inspection wait 21 days so written notices could
be sent.
Section 16-49(C) has been revised to clarify that inspections will only be conducted in occupied
units with the presence and consent of an adult tenant; will only be conducted in unoccupied
units with the presence and consent of the owner or the owner's agent; or upon the issuance of
a special inspection warrant. This has been the practice of city staff conducting inspections and
was the intention of the ordinance, this change is intended to comply with this practices and to
be more clear.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the adoption of this ordinance change.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends adoption of the proposed ordinance as revised.
Resp ctfully Submitt d,
Lynn A. orenson
City Attorney
Approved:
Mark A. Rohloff
City Manager
City Hall, 215 Church Avenue P.O. Box 1130 Oshkosh, WI 54903-1130 920.236.5000 http://www.ci.oshkosh.wi.us
TO: Mayor and Members of the Common Council
FROM: Lynn A. Lorenson, City Attorney
DATE: January 20, 2017
RE: Ordinance to Amend Residential Contact Registration Required Ordinance to
Clarify Registration Requirements and to Delete Remedy of Withholding
Occupancy
BACKGROUND
The City adopted a Residential Rental Registration and Inspection ordinance on September 15, 2016.
The Winnebago Apartment Association, Inc., Discovery Properties, Midwest Realty Management,
Inc., Schwab Properties, LLC, Ultimate Properties, LLC, and Donn Lord filed a Notice of Claim on
September 30, 2016.
The City forwarded the claim to the City's insurance carrier who assigned outside counsel,
Attorney Remzy Bitar, to assist the City in the review and defense of this claim. As part of the
review of the Claim the City Attorney's office and outside counsel reviewed the ordinance and
are recommending several minor revisions to the ordinance.
ANALYSIS
The proposed revisions are all to section 16-48 and so to make the proposed revisions easier to
read, the ordinance has been drafted in a manner to repeal and recreate all of section 16-48.
The specific changes to that section are changes to subsection (A) to include the initial date of
required registration which was the effective date of the original ordinance, January 1, 2017
and to address the initial date of required registration for new construction or property
converted from a different use to residential rental.
In subsection (B) there was a minor change to include reference to including either the owner's
or an agent's name and telephone number.
City Hall, 215 Church Avenue P.O. Box 1130 Oshkosh, WI 54903-1130 920.236.5000 http://www.ci.oshkosh.wi.us
Subsection (C) is a new subsection and is proposed to address changes to the information
provided by current owners under subsection (B). The former requirement to annually
register units is proposed to be repealed. The statute is silent as to any requirements or
limitations upon registration periods. Based upon the current response to initial registration,
staff believes that updating all registrations on a yearly basis may be time-consuming and not
necessary if information is updated when changes in information occur or upon the sale,
transfer or other conveyance of the property.
Subsection (D) is a new section specifically addressing the requirement for a new owner to
complete registration upon the sale, transfer or conveyance of the property.
Subsection (E), formerly subsection (D), has been reworded in more clear language to state
that the rental inspection does not act as any statement or admission regarding the condition
of the property or other code compliance.
There is no change to Subsection (F) which was formerly subsection (E).
Former Subsection (F) which required all residential rental dwelling units to be registered
prior to occupancy by a tenant is proposed to be repealed. This issue is not addressed in the
statutes and so to avoid any concerns that the ordinance is not compliant with the state statute
it is recommended that this section be repealed. Removal of this subsection will not affect the
administration of the ordinance.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the adoption of this ordinance change.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends adoption of the proposed ordinance.
Res ectfully Submit ed,
A. Lorenson
City Attorney
Approved:
Mark A. Rohloff
City Manager
City Hall, 215 Church Avenue P.O. Box 1130 Oshkosh, WI 54903-1130 920.236.5000 http://www.ci.oshkosh.wi.us